December 18 will dawn on the exhibition of art works by the artist, Onyema Offoedu-Okeke, at Svengali Designs Limited on Agoro Odiyan Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The exhibition, with about 20 works under the theme Nlecha, the artist said, explores art forms of elegance with various figurative possibilities.
Nlecha, an Igbo word which connotes showing off, he said, “congregates exciting ideas on virtues of visibility through showcasing, showing off and show-boating”.
Offoedu-Okeke, who graduated from the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus in 1992 with B.Sc in architecture, explained that, sublimely or overtly, gestures and poises create joy of life or simply the pleasantness of being alive.
Drawing upon fashion, he stated, “Nlecha examines joy of life captured through galleries of soldiers, damsels, food hawkers, titled chiefs, lawyers, sports persons, etc”.
Indeed, what those who come to the exhibition that will be open till early next year see is a bounty of colours not unlike rainbows drawing them totally in.
Among the works on display are the Olamma series (2015, acrylic, 48 x 36 inches), Soja series (2015, acrylic, 48 x 36 inches), Music God (2015, Acrylic, 72 x 48 inches), Epiphany in Black series (2015, acrylic, 48 x 36 inches) and Nze na Ozo (2015, acrylic, 72 x 72 inches).
“In creating analytic texts on feminine beauty with emphasis on poise, lexicons which provide useful descriptions often evoke similarities of animals, plants and nature. Drawing inference from nature has been an epistemological basis of language and behavioural patterns, thus aptly situates human beauty inside the elliptical rhythms of nature.
“When expressions such as lan, doe-eyed, gazelle, vixen, cocky, feline relate to admirable forms of body movement of beasts, their terminological importance locates human students inside the classrooms of nature at large.
“Recognisably, the poise aesthetic of Olamma series borrows from the elegance of egrets and cranes. Sinuous neck traces cadence of flowing movement in the projection of the head, a poesy of suppleness. Olamma (jewellery) illustration strategically seek to examine elegance as a criterion of beauty through silhouettes. In this case, the flat profile of female poses act as figural frames which suspend beauty-moments in time to create memorable pictorial glory. However, a transcendence of poesy is achieved with the infusion of lyrical motifs which fire up the lambent bodies, immediately animating the suspense-state,” said the artist about the Olamma series.
For the Soja series, he said that in the military parades, uniforms, colour and insignias emphasise hierarchy, discipline, honour but also remove the rough edges from the business of defence and war. Soja series, he therefore stated, sums up visual essay of military authority and power with the iconic profile of military brass – the circular topped cap with jutting visor.
“Indeed, a halo of brass and khaki radiantly romanticising military power. More than epaulettes, shiny medals and buttons, the silhouettes of saddle-topped cap as seen from the sides cut out potent visual register of nobility and prestige reserved for warriors,” he said.
The works, all of them abstracts and in varying sizes, are a beauty to behold and bear the unmistakable signature of the artist who, since 1996, has made recognisable imprint in the development of art in Nigeria with innovative painting styles and themes next to scholarly explorations of cultural histories.
His unique tapestroid, drizzles, rectilinear panellation, cranioglyph and head-load critical formula revolutionary concepts have stood him well in over 22 years of seven solo and 20 significant group shows that have established him as a visionary modernist.
In 2000, Offoedu-Okeke represented Nigeria in the Windsor and Newton-sponsored global tour of ‘Our World in the Year 2000’ exhibition. In 2004, he represented Nigeria at the ‘Artiade-Olympics of Art’ in the Athens Olympiad. Between 2005 and 2007, he operated a column titled ‘Artlife’ in ThisDay on Saturday newspaper. In 2012, he published a ground-breaking book titled Artists of Nigeria (5 Continents Editions) after 12 years of research and documentation. The book was sponsored by the Ford Foundation under the aegis of Dr. Adhiambo Odaga.
